ILOILO CITY – The Office of Civil Defense (OCD)-Region 6 is seeking the assessment of the structural integrity of infrastructure across Western Visayas following the magnitude-7 earthquake in Northern Luzon Wednesday, July 26.
In a July 27 memorandum, OCD-Region 6 director Jose Roberto Nuñez urged national government agencies (NGAs) and local government units (LGUs) in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental as well as the highly urbanized cities of Iloilo and Bacolod to assess various infrastructures for safety and resilience.
Nuñez, chairman of the Regional Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC), said that it should be done in coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) or the engineering offices of the provincial, city, or municipal governments.
The OCD-Region 6 reiterated the need for review, especially for Panay Island.
On January 25, 1948, a magnitude-8.2 earthquake called as “Lady Caycay” destroyed structures, including more than 50 heritage churches, in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo.
This seismic event is said to be one the country’s strongest and most destructive temblors.
Meanwhile, the OCD-Region 6 is prepared to send assistance for post-earthquake operations in Northern Luzon.
“We are prepared to send our personnel once there is a request,” said OCD-Region 6 Information Officer Cindy Ferrer.
Ferrer bared that OCD-Region 6 had sent augmentation personnel to the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
“We sent personnel in 2018 after typhoon ‘Ompong,’” added Ferrer.